Finding Harry
by singinilovebooks
Summary: A collection of one-shots about Harry's life with the Dursleys. T for neglect. I don't own Harry Potter. HIATUS
1. Finding Harry

**This is just a little one-shot that might be followed by others about Harry and his life growing up with the Dursleys. If you have any that you might want to see, review and tell me your request. Depending on what it is, I might be happy to write it.**

* * *

"Vernon!" Petunia shrieked when she went out onto the porch to grab the newspaper and instead found a baby. He found her a minute later shuddering against the doorframe. He was in a rush to get to work, and didn't have time to deal with anything trivial.

Vernon took a deep breath and began, "Petunia, what," only to stop short when he saw the baby and the letter clutched in Petunia's fist. Due to Petunia's shaking, he had been worried that something wasn't right. After reading the letter, he understood why his wife was shaking. It was anger and, weirdly enough, joy. He could not have foreseen that Petunia's sister and her blasted husband would die- that was a good thing. However, their son didn't get himself killed with his parents, so he was shipped off to them.

"How could he?" Petunia muttered darkly. "Why would he give him to us?" She was referring to how Albus Dumbledore had left Harry with them. "Of all the places." She knew, though, that she was Lily's last living relative, and judging by Dumbledore's letter, Harry's as well. That didn't mean, to her, that she held any responsibility towards the child.

Vernon frowned. "We'll just throw him in an orphanage. Gone and out of our lives just like that. You'll never have to think about them again," he proposed. While Petunia did like the idea, she knew that wouldn't work.

"We're dealing with- with wizards," she forced herself to say. "That won't work. We have no choice but to take him in." She was angry and upset. Her nephew had ruined everything. She had a perfect life with her husband and her perfect son, and the boy was intruding on it. "Stupid Potter," she spat. That would become the boy's nickname for years to come.

* * *

 **So what did you guys think? Review!**


	2. The Cupboard

**So, this one is about how they decided to put Harry in the cupboard under the stairs.**

* * *

"So where are we going to keep this kid?" Vernon asked Petunia. She really didn't want to have to deal with her nephew, but she didn't have any control over the matter. "Wherever he takes up the least space. And I don't want to see the brat," Petunia replied tersely. She had hated her sister, and now that she was dead, she was stuck with her son. This did not put young Harry Potter in her good graces.

Vernon's solution to these problems was the cupboard under the stairs. It was plenty big for a baby, it seemed to him, and kept him out of the way. It also conveniently had a lock on the outside that could not be moved from the inside. This could prove to be useful in coming years. Petunia was all for it. She found herself wishing that her parents had kept Lily in the cupboard under the stairs. Maybe she wouldn't have run off to Hogwarts and met Potter, and had this brat.

Of course, this was only spiteful thinking. It would likely have made Lily only more eager to go to Hogwarts, as would become the case with Harry.

Petunia simply hated everything magical, and family was no exception. She wished that she could stamp the magic out of him, and she would try as hard as she could. The first step was simply to stamp the hope and happiness out of him, as well. Maybe then he would suppress it, the way she had heard some children did. It would make life better for all of them, in any case.

There was very little debate over whether or not the cupboard was the right place for the child. They put in some blankets and a cot, put him down there, and ignored him as much as they could. At this young of an age, though, he needed a lot of attention and wandering range. As soon as they opened the cupboard to get him to shut up, he would jump out of it and start crawling around. Neither Vernon nor Petunia was keen to touch the child, so they let him wander around-until he broke something.

It was a horrid vase anyway, and she had often complained of it, but Petunia was furious that Harry had broken it. If it was her little Dudders, she would probably even be thankful, but she had her eye out for any excuse to get angry with her sister's innocent offspring. She locked the boy in the cupboard and swept the shards in there with him as well. He would learn not to break anything in her home.

Unfortunately for her, the plan backfired. When she opened up the cupboard door later to give him his food, she saw the baby playing with the unbroken vase. She had seen this happen before, when her sister was a child, and knew exactly what it meant. He was magical, as she had expected. Oh, well. It would not stop her determination to stamp it out of him. She snatched the vase away from him either way, as he seemed to be having far too much fun with it. She replaced it where it had been, as she could no longer justify throwing it away.

There was simply no winning with this child.

* * *

 **I know it's short, but these are meant to be super short one shots either way. Any ideas for future moments?**


End file.
